


Taking Advantage of the Moment

by Jaspre_Rose



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 14:58:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7688983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaspre_Rose/pseuds/Jaspre_Rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgana and Merlin find themselves alone in the forest one afternoon. Rather, Merlin thought he was alone until he found himself face first in the dirt. While attempting to cast a spell that would hopefully return Morgana to the woman she once was, Morgana mistakes EXACTLY what Merlin's intentions were. To be fair, anyone would have.</p>
<p>What follows is a quick, shameless Mergana and the fallout from the spell Merlin belatedly casts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Advantage of the Moment

After collecting a multitude of herbs for Gaius and making an absolute mess of himself courtesy of a clumsy slide down a hill into a mud bank, Merlin was covered head to toe in muck.

It smelled foul and he was beginning to feel itchy in places where the mud was already drying. Not wanting to be uncomfortable the entire trek back to the castle, Merlin glanced around to ensure he was completely alone and then decided to wash off in the nearby creek. Once he was clean, he could rinse his clothing out and start his journey home. Walking in wet clothing was preferable to walking like this, after all.

He never saw her coming.

Just as he was wringing out his tunic, an invisible force slammed him into the ground with enough force to drive the air from his body. Merlin gasped into the dirt and struggled against the pressure holding him in place. The tip of a dagger pressed into his back and Merlin stilled.

“Well, if it isn’t my dearest brother’s lapdog,” Morgana hissed. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Where is he, then?”

“He’s not here. I was collecting herbs for Gaius.”

Morgana let out a scoff. “And that requires you to be shirtless? As far as traps go, it’s pathetic.”

“I slipped,” Merlin muttered. “Look, I am alone and I am obviously not here to cause you harm. Let me go.”

Morgana’s magic eased up enough for him to turn onto his back, but then continued to hold him down once he’d gotten there. He met her gaze, his brows lightly arched, and saw her sneer at him. The dagger in her hand moved from his belly to his neck.

“I do not believe you. Why are you here? Does he want revenge for our beloved father?”

“No,” Merlin said, unwilling to hide a chuckle. “You did Arthur a favor.”

Morgana seemed temporarily surprised, but covered it well with a fresh wave of anger and scanned the forest around them. Her eyes flashed gold a moment and then confusion chased away her anger.

“You truly are alone.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “Are you so foolish you think it wise to come here alone and unarmed? Are you arrogant enough to believe I will allow you to leave unscathed?”

“I did not expect to see you. I had not planned anything.”

When he said nothing else, Morgana leaned back from him and let her magic keep him in place. He felt it polite not to point out he could overpower it and her in a second if he so chose. Besides, she didn’t need to know about his magic.

“Tell me why you are here.”

“As I told you before, I was gathering herbs.”

“Yes, you did say that. Now tell me why you are really here.”

“Collecting herbs,” Merlin repeated slowly. “Why are you here?”

“That is none of your concern.”

Morgana didn’t move from her kneeling position beside him and Merlin stared at her a moment.

“Fine. I actually came to talk to you,” he lied. “I should have known you would see through my lie.”

“Why would you do that?” she asked flatly. “I’d sooner kill you than talk to you.”

“Yet you have not,” Merlin bravely pointed out. “I think you are too curious to do anything until you know what is going on.”

Her eyes again flashed gold and she relaxed once more.

“You are not planning to be joined, then?”

Merlin shrugged. “Arthur has no idea where I am. Gaius is covering for me.”

Her chin up, Morgana sat back on her heels, turned her head away, and looked at him from the corner of her eye.

“Speak.”

“It is my belief you do not truly wish to kill your own brother and that Arthur does not truly wish to kill his own sister. I believe, if we were to go about it right, we might be able to come to some sort of truce.”

Morgana smiled wickedly and leaned back over him. Her lips by his ear, she chuckled.

“You could not be more wrong,” she whispered sweetly. “I want him dead.”

“I do not believe that.”

Her blade was back at his throat and Merlin missed the time it had been absent. A snippet of text from his tome of magic floated through his mind. He struggled to remember the text in its entirety while also concentrating on Morgana’s words.

“You underestimate my hate. That snake is worse than Uther ever was,” Morgana snarled into his face. “I want him dead and I will ensure it happens in the most torturous way I can imagine. That throne will be mine.”

“Morgana,” he tried to speak, but she spoke over him.

It normally would be an easy spell and it still was. Somewhat. It was a spell to remove the anger from one’s heart and from the text he’d once read, it didn’t seem to have any negative aftereffects. Perhaps if he managed to remove her anger, she would only have sadness left in her heart and sadness was much easier to heal than anger that has been allowed to fester.

Casting the spell without speaking would be the easy part. Managing to establish a link between them with a kiss would be… difficult.

Merlin seized his moment without another thought. With her still right in his face, speaking of how much she wanted Arthur dead, it was simply a matter of wrapping his arms around her shoulders and dragging her down. Her lips messily landed on his, but she pulled away before he could actually cast the spell.

She tried to rear all the way back from him and seemed surprised when his arms prevented her from moving any further. Merlin could see her vacillating between outrage and want. The first emotion wasn’t very surprising. The second… Well, if he’d been standing, one could’ve knocked him over with a twig.

Morgana soon retaliated. Merlin cracked open one eye when he found it was her lips and hands attacking his person rather than her dagger. She moved her lips up his neck and across his jaw to his lips while her hands fumbled at his trousers. Merlin was still frozen in shock as she groaned and gave up on his trousers for the moment.

He’d only meant to kiss her, not seduce her. Morgana didn’t seem to care about that, though, and Merlin found himself wondering exactly what she was doing.

Now properly seated on top of him, she pulled her head back enough to whisper against his lips.

“It has been so long,” she breathed, “and if you are offering…”

His brows arched high on his forehead at this confession. What would Arthur think about that news? She was still a lady of the court, even if she had been completely poisoned by her anger.

Morgana was once more kissing him and he decided to kiss her back, if only so he could hopefully cast his spell in the process. Might as well take advantage of the opportunity, after all. Unfortunately, his participation ratcheted up her desperation and she started rubbing herself against him.

Despite his best efforts, he soon found himself… reacting and not even thinking of Arthur helped. This wasn’t going well at all.

She never paused long enough for him to be able to cast the spell while their lips were connected, which was the only reason he’d kept kissing her. Sudden relief hit him and he gasped in a breath at the same time he realized Morgana must have finally released him from his tight trousers.

Oh, this really wasn’t good.

An exclamation escaped him as Morgana unexpectedly sank down on him, the ends of her dress and cloak spread out around them. Merlin swallowed, trying to think of a way out of this entire situation, wondering how exactly they had gotten to this point, but his brain quickly started coming up with blanks.

He hadn’t felt anything like this since the night he had lain with Freya.

He’d had a few partners before Freya, but she had been his most pleasurable. Perhaps the way he had felt about her factored into that. Morgana was already becoming a quick second based upon skill alone. He tried not to think about that and found it wasn’t that hard.

Morgana began tugging at his shoulders and, mind flashing back to that night with Freya, Merlin instinctively rolled Morgana onto her back.

Nothing about this was right. He couldn’t stop himself now that he had started.

Remembering how much Freya had seemed to like it, Merlin adjusted his position just a bit and felt Morgana’s nails dig into his back, her mouth open and head thrown back. His eyes clenching, he lost himself to what he was feeling, reliving that one night he’d had with Freya.

He could hear Morgana murmuring some positively obscene things and occasionally releasing a cry or a moan. The latter started happening more often the closer he got. He felt her body straining underneath him and it hit him that perhaps he wasn’t the only one feeling like he was about to burst from the pleasure of their joining.

Then, naturally, it dawned on him that perhaps a kiss wouldn’t be necessary. As long as they were bodily connected in some way, which they very much were at the moment, the spell might still work.

He would have berated himself if he wasn’t approaching the pinnacle of pleasure and as a result was too preoccupied to care.

Morgana frantically clung to his bottom, writhing and screaming, as she began convulsing from her own pleasure. With his last clear thought, Merlin cast the spell and then felt himself burst apart. His eyes flashed gold as he rode the woman below him hard, drawing out his pleasure as long as he dared.

Panting above her, Merlin looked down at Morgana and saw she looked shocked albeit tired.

“You have magic,” Morgana cried while gasping for breath. “What spell did you cast?”

“It is for your own good, Morgana,” Merlin said while gingerly pulling out of her body. “I apologize. I did not mean for this to happen.”

Morgana burst into tears, which was incredibly unnerving. Merlin froze, his trouser ties in his hands, and stared at her.

"I have ruined my entire life," she wailed. "I have thrown everything away - my brother, my father, my honor, my virtue! I have no future!"

As she continued to wail about all the wrongs she had committed, all the men she had lain with, Merlin began to feel immensely guilty. He hadn't considered what would happen when all the anger had been removed from her heart, leaving only all of the hurt, the sadness, and her sins. When Morgana grasped her dagger and brought it to her chest, Merlin quickly intervened. He grabbed the hand holding her knife and pressed his free hand to her forehead. A moment later, she went limp and lost consciousness.

After quickly righting their clothing, Merlin sat beside her and pondered what he was to do. He'd thought removing her anger would help her. Instead, she had tried to kill herself. He needed to think of a way to heal her.

Completely this time.

Somehow, Merlin had managed to get her and himself all the way to Camelot without coming across anyone. After explaining only the most pertinent details to Gwaine, who knew of his magic, he had gained the knight’s assistance and a vow he wouldn’t speak of this. Gwaine had helped him smuggle Morgana to his rooms and had sat at Merlin’s bedside, attending the sleeping Morgana while Merlin paced the end of his room.

Merlin was just glad Gaius was out doing his deliveries. This all would be very difficult to explain to him.

“Tell me again how you came to be close enough to cast this spell,” Gwaine spoke after a few hours. “You implied it was a very intimate situation.”

“You are supposed to be helping me think up a solution,” Merlin reminded him. “It will do no good if she awakens before I can come up with one, Gwaine. She will simply try to kill herself again.”

“I suppose she would.”

“She has changed. I told you I removed her anger, her hatred. The only hatred she seems to have in her heart now is hatred for herself. I do not want to inform Arthur his sister has changed for the better, but has also killed herself.”

“That does remind me of another predicament,” Gwaine mused. “One I am sure you have not considered yet, my friend.”

“What?”

“How do you plan to tell Arthur his sister has changed if he does not know of your magic?” Merlin stopped in his tracks and turned to Gwaine with a horrified expression. Gwaine nodded. “You cannot.”

Merlin yanked his hair roughly and resumed pacing. When Morgana woke near sunset, he finally had a plan for both curing Morgana’s issues and for convincing Arthur. Gwaine happened to be fetching their dinners when Morgana woke. Tears instantly began streaking her cheeks and Merlin quickly caught her wrists while she was still disoriented enough not to be looking for a way to die.

“No, let me go,” she begged, sobbing. “I have ruined everything. Even you, a man who was once my friend, tried to kill me. My own brother will not spare the sword for the things I have done to him and our father.”

“Morgana, listen to me.” She slowly stopped struggling and looked up at him, tears slipping from her eyes. “Your anger poisoned you. You are not that woman anymore. Do you understand?”

“Yes and it hurts, Merlin. It hurts. I have such pain in my heart. I cannot live with it. I feel as if I am suffocating under the pain of it all.”

“I know you do. I know how to help you, but it will take time.”

“No, I cannot bear this. Please let me. Please.”

Merlin shook his head. “I have a spell I can use to dampen your emotions for now, but in order to cure you of the sadness completely, you will have to heal yourself.”

Morgana sniffed, swallowed, and asked, “Will I forget everything that happened?”

“No. You’ll simply forget the pain.”

“And I won't forget?”

“No.”

“…even today? I would like to forget.”

His cheeks warmed. “No, but I understand. I feel the same. Sorry.”

Morgana nodded. “As am I. How do I heal?”

“You know how, Morgana. Look into yourself and you’ll know how to heal yourself.”

“Can you cast your spell?” she asked in a small voice. “I am uncertain I can withstand this pain long enough to try.”

Merlin pressed a kiss to her forehead, his guilt intensifying to a new high, and slowly pulled away. His eyes on her, he thought the words to the spell and saw his eyes flare gold in the reflection created by the large pendant around her throat. Morgana sighed in relief, sagged down onto his bed, and once again fell asleep.

“You bedded her, didn’t you?” Gwaine asked from the doorway. Merlin twisted his head enough to see him and forgot how to speak for a moment. “Oh, I shall not be telling Arthur about it, I assure you.”

His throat worked a moment before he remembered how to use his words.

“It was… unplanned.”

Gwaine chuckled and sauntered over, two plates balanced on his hands.

“And how long have you carried a flame for the king’s sister?”

“Never, Gwaine. I certainly did not intend to use her in such a way, even if she was determined to do the same.”

“Ah. Her words make sense now.”

Merlin scratched his cheek and self-consciously turned away from his friend. He settled himself into a more comfortable position on the edge of the bed and looked over when Gwaine sat on the chair beside him.

“You must never tell Arthur.”

“Already figured that much out, Merlin. You have my word I will not.” Gwaine took a bite from his chicken leg and gestured at Morgana. “Do you really believe she will be able to heal herself?”

Merlin, who was already sensing the inner turmoil from the woman on his bed, nodded.

“Unless I am very much mistaken, I do believe she has already started.”

“That was not much of an answer, my friend. Do you believe her capable?”

“She is very strong,” was all Merlin said in response. “I will need your help with my plan to convince Arthur that Morgana will no longer be a threat.”

“Indeed,” Gwaine said, smiling. “Then tell me what I am to do.”

Early the next morning, long before the sun had risen, Merlin’s eyes forced themselves open when the hand within his began to move. He looked up and saw Morgana sitting up in his bed, her hand on her head.

“Help.” Feeling hopeful, since her tears hadn’t started again, Merlin handed over a headache reliever that he’d suspected she might need after having slept so long. Upon swallowing some of the liquid, Morgana handed the bottle back. “Thank you.”

“How do you feel?”

“I do not feel as if I need to end my life, if that is what you are asking.” Morgana took a slice of cheese from the plate Merlin offered her and nibbled on one end. “Unless your spell is still in effect, I do believe I have healed myself.”

Gwaine mumbled incoherently from his nest at the foot of the bed and Merlin briefly glanced at him.

“I removed my spell hours ago.” Morgana nodded, her eyes on his threadbare blanket, and Merlin studied her. “Gwaine figured out what happened. He overheard us earlier.”

Morgana looked up in alarm. “He cannot tell Arthur. I have already ruined enough. I do not want his opinion of me to worsen.”

“He gave his word he would not. If nothing comes of… what happened,” Merlin said delicately, “no one need ever know.”

“Nothing will,” Morgana said quietly, eyes moving away from Merlin once more. “I am unable to bear children. Not even Morgause was able to help me.”

Merlin didn’t know what to say to her. She seemed upset, though she had put no emotion behind the words themselves.

“I was unaware you wanted children to begin with. I remember a time when the very idea appalled you.”

“Personally, I never see myself having children and I never have. The idea, however, has not always repulsed me.”

“Perhaps one day we will find a way if it is something you desire.”

Morgana shrugged dismissively.

“When am I to meet with my brother?”

“Ah. About that…”

At daybreak, Gwaine smuggled them out of the castle and distracted a pair of guards on their hourly check. Seeing a knight of Camelot himself, they nodded and passed by the area from which Gwaine had been walking, presumably believing he would have alerted them to any strange goings-on.

Twenty minutes later, Gwaine gave Merlin the signal from a window near Arthur’s bedroom. Merlin magically turned into his elderly alter-ego and caused a ruckus as he led a struggling, bound Morgana into the courtyard below Arthur’s bedroom window. By the time he made it there, Gwaine and Arthur had made it to the steps in front of them.

Merlin had to give it to her. Morgana was doing a fine job of convincing everyone she was still the evil, sadistic witch she once was. Gwaine, who appeared to be out of breath from running ahead to the king, quickly stepped in front of Arthur as Merlin approached with Morgana on a lead behind him.

“Let me go,” Morgana screamed, “or I will kill you in the most painful way I can imagine!”

Merlin ignored her. “King Arthur,” he yelled over the sounds of Morgana struggling, “I have brought you a gift. I wish to prove to you that not all magic leads to evil and that not all that is evil will always be so.”

“You killed my father,” Arthur intoned in a dead voice. “Nothing can undo that and I most certainly will never trust you again.”

“There was a charm upon his person that undid my healing spell,” Merlin replied sadly, forgetting for a moment he was supposed to be doing something. “My only sin was not checking his body beforehand for such an item. You may ask Gaius if you do not believe me.”

“I may.” Arthur’s brows furrowed and he glanced around before leaning towards Gwaine and whispering, “Where is Merlin?”

Merlin nearly smiled at that. However, he had a show to put on and he didn’t want Arthur to start wondering why Morgana hadn’t freed herself yet.

“Sleeping,” Gwaine suggested. “Most still are.”

“Lazy,” Arthur muttered and Merlin glared at him a moment. “Ah, yes. You were proving something. Fine, old man. Do it. Meanwhile, Gwaine, ready the guards.”

Merlin glared at the prat for a moment more before turning to Morgana and putting his palms on her temples, his fingers burying themselves into her hair. She met his eyes a moment, showing her thanks as best she could at the moment, and then snarled at him. He, in turn, closed his eyes and made it seem he was silently casting a spell.

“What is he doing?”

“It appears he is casting a spell.”

When Morgana gasped loudly and dropped to her knees in front of him, Merlin opened his eyes and looked down at her. She had her bound hands covering her face, weeping believably. Arthur stepped forward, Gwaine’s sword in his hand and Gwaine’s hand on his arm.

“What have you done to her?”

Merlin looked at him and cocked his head to the side.

“Why do you care? Do you not hate her?”

“She is still my sister. What have you done to her?”

Morgana chose that moment to uncover her face, real tear tracks on her cheeks, and smiled sadly at Arthur.

“I am so sorry, Arthur. I am…”

“What did you do?”

Arthur sounded furious now.

“I have removed the hatred from her heart,” Merlin informed the assembled crowd. “She is filled with intense sadness, but she will heal herself after a short sleep.”

As they had discussed earlier, she would actually need to fall asleep here to make sure she didn’t accidentally give them away. Merlin put his hand on her forehead and she promptly fell asleep.

“Now what have you done?” Arthur yelled. “Let go of me, Gwaine.”

“I have simply put her to sleep. When she awakens, she will be the woman you used to know.”

“How am I to know this is not a ruse of some sort? I am not eager to invite this woman back into my castle while she still harbors a desire for my kingdom.”

“Have Gaius examine her. He will be able to detect her intent.”

“But to do such, will he not have to use magic?” Merlin paused and looked at Arthur. “Are you implying he uses magic, as well?”

“He has done nothing of the sort since it became illegal,” Merlin replied clearly. “However, in an instance such as this, perhaps you might utilize his skill to ensure your own sister no longer has evil intent.”

Arthur nodded. “Guards, arrest him.”

Merlin sighed. He’d expected such. With his hand pointed at the sky, he twirled his arm around once before everything went white. Merlin quickly turned back into himself, stuffed the red robe into one of the baskets he knew would be delivered to Gaius later, and hurriedly made his way through the heavy fog to Arthur’s voice.

“Find him!” Arthur yelled, obviously making his way to Morgana’s side. “Do not let him slip away again.”

“Arthur?” Merlin called, trying to sound half asleep. “What is going on?”

“Merlin?” Arthur’s voice, when he spoke again, sounded nearer. “Where are you?”

“Here. Where are you?”

A hand smacked into him and then tightly latched onto his wrist. Merlin followed the red sleeve to the blurry features of Arthur.

“Merlin,” Arthur said, for once sounding relieved. “Come with me.”

“What is happening?” Merlin asked, playing stupid. “I heard shouting. Did I hear Morgana?”

“Yes. Be careful. She could be anywhere.”

Merlin waited until Arthur turned away to roll his eyes.

“He is not here, Sire,” Leon yelled. “We have the yard surrounded and have spread out, but he is nowhere to be found.”

Arthur cursed and nearly tripped over Morgana’s form. He dropped and checked her over.

“She…” Arthur looked up in the dissipating fog and frowned. “She truly is asleep. That old man was telling the truth.”

“About what?”

“He said he removed the anger from her heart and put her to sleep. Perhaps he did do it.”

“Why would he do that, though?” Merlin pressed. He hoped Arthur had paid attention to his reason for doing so. “What did he have to gain?”

“He said he did it to prove all magic is not evil or something. Gwaine was paying attention.”

Merlin sighed. And he always said Merlin was the idiot. At least he pays attention when people talk to him.

Arthur scooped Morgana into his arms and looked down at her form a moment before glancing around.

“Someone fetch Gaius. Have him come to her old bedchamber. Merlin, come with me.”

In Morgana’s old room, Arthur settled Morgana into her bed while Merlin hurriedly started a fire and tried to clear the musty smell from the rooms. Gaius arrived minutes later, looking confused. His ever expressive brow arched dangerously when he saw the form upon the bed.

“Sire?”

“I need you to use magic,” Arthur said bluntly. “I need to know what intent she has.”

“There was a sorcerer. Arthur said the man removed the anger from her heart,” Merlin explained, “to prove not all magic is evil. At least he thinks that is what he said. It is well known he does not actually pay attention to half of what he hears.”

Anyone else would have been thrown into the stocks or the dungeon. With Merlin, though, Arthur merely slapped the back of his head while watching Gaius examine Morgana.

“Gaius,” Arthur huffed. “I know you know what you need to do. I will not sentence you to death for using magic when I was the one who ordered you to do it. Check her intent.”

Nervously, Gaius put his rusty magic to use and soon nodded at Arthur.

“Her intent is good. As far as I can tell, Sire, there is nothing evil within her. Not so much as a grudge.”

Seeming shocked, Arthur sagged onto a chair Merlin brought over for him. He looked at Gaius, stared at Merlin a moment, and then focused on Morgana.

“He was telling the truth.”

“Guess not all magic is evil, after all,” Merlin said cheerfully. Gaius looked at him, his brow dangerously high once again, and Merlin knew Gaius had guessed enough that Merlin was going to be in so much trouble when he got back to their rooms.

“No,” Arthur mused, “I suppose it is not.”

“With her as proof, it should be easier to fix your laws to ensure the Lady Morgana will not be put to death,” Gaius commented quietly, pulling the blanket up to Morgana’s chin.

“I had not even thought of that,” Arthur said, sitting up straight. “Merlin, we must go. Gaius, will you care for her?”

Gaius nodded and Merlin ran after Arthur as he darted from the room.

“We have to look at the law very carefully, Merlin. Morgana is back to the way she should be, but she still has magic.”

“So we have to make sure the law will not force you to condemn her.”

“Exactly.”

Merlin smiled. If someone had told him yesterday morning that this would be the day he and Arthur brought magic back to Camelot, Merlin would have laughed until his belly hurt.

Somehow, while watching Arthur dart into the room where all the law scrolls were kept, he really shouldn’t be surprised this was how it happened. In a way, bringing magic back to the land like this, it was very them.

Now he just had to confess his own magic and then they’d all be on the same page.


End file.
